Self-recording rain-gage



(No Model.) 2 SheetsShe.et 1.

A. J. GROVER. SELF RECORDING RAIN GAGE.

No. 530,338. Patented Dec. 4, 1894.

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(No Model.)

Patented Deb. 4, 1894.

UNITED STATES PATENT OEEioE.

ALVA J. GROVER, or OMAHA, NEBRASKA.

SELF-RECORDING RAIN-GAGE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 530,338, dated December a, 1 894.

Application filed December 15, 1893. Serial No. 49 |7Z N m d l- T0 aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALVA J. GROVER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Omaha, Douglas county, Nebraska, have invented new and useful Improvements in Self-Recording Rain-Gages, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to self recording rain gages, and its objects are to provide a gage for automatically recording the amount of rain fall,- the time of beginning of said rain fall with its duration; to so construct such a gage that these data may be recorded with precision and accuracy, so that there can never be any confusion of the records.

Vith these objects in View my invention consists in the mechanism hereinafter described and pointed out by the claims, and shown in the drawings forming a part thereof.

In the drawings:-Figu re 1, is a front elevation of the rain gage. Fig. 2, is a sectional plan view thereof. Fig. 3, is an enlarged view of the scales and jar. Fig. 4:, is a frontview of the recordercase. Fig. 5, is a sectional plan View, on line 55, Fig. 4. Fig. 6, is a vertical section on line 66, Fig. 4.

The rain gage proper is located upon the roof of the building, and consists of a slightly modified form of the standard top of the United States feather Bureau. A suitable frame, A, is used to support the two gages. The tops, 1, are preferably 8.814 inches in diameter so that from one inch rain fall one thousand cubic centimeters of water may be gathered. I provide two of these tops, {one of which conducts the water into a copper cylinder, 2, surrounded by another cylinder, 3, for the purpose of protecting the former from the heat; and the rain gathered in this cylinder is measured by a stick inthe usual way. The rain gathered in the other top is conveyed through a tube, 4:, of suitable length, to a graduated jar, 5, on the register case. This jar is suspended on a pair of scales. These scales are composed of a set of levers, 6, and 7, the former of which is provided with three knife edge bearings, 8, 9, 10. The lever, 6, is fulcrumed by the knife edge bearing, 9, upon an arm, 11, suitably secured to the top of the register case; and the jar is attached to the arm, 12, upon the knife edge bearing, 10, while the other knife edge bearing, 8, supports a link, 13, connecting the short arm of the lever, 7, with the lever, 6, the said lever, 7, being supported by knife edge bearings at lat, between the parts of a split link, 15, suitably pivoted to a bracket, 16, at the top of the register case. Thelong arm of the lever, 7, is provided with an adjustable weight, 17, while the jar is counterpoised bya similar weight, 18, upon thelever, 6.

Secured by a spring arm, 19, projecting from the lever, 6, is a glass pen,-20, adapted to be held in contact with a chronographic drum, 21, in the recorder case 13. Connected by a knuckle joint to the shaft of the drum is a gear, 22, of one hundred and eighty-nine teeth, meshing with a smaller gear or pinion having seven teeth, 23, upon the hour shaft of the clock, 24. A continuous record for twenty-seven hours is thus obtained by the pen upon the lithographed paper on the drum.

The scales having been adjusted to the position shown in Fig. 3, as the jar fills with water the weight, 17, will be forced from the vertical, proportionately to the weight of the Water in the jar, its lever arm increasing as the sine of the angle, while the pen moves to the left and consequently makes an automatic record of the time and amoun t of rain fall upon the lithographed paper on the drum, 21.

It will be seen that in a gage constructed according to myinvention that the instant there is enough Water in the jar to throw the said jar out of balance, a record is made upon the chronographic drum or cylinder. In my device the record cannot be confused by the rapidity of or intensity of rain fall, as in the old form of gage, for if, as an example, it were possible to rain two inches or more in a minute the pen would simply be moved to the two inch mark on the paper thus recording the time and amount, while in the devices now in use it would be impossible to tell how many times the armature actuating the pen had moved the latter back and forth to record the number of;five hundredthsinches, and the whole record would be a blot. It is believed that the advantages of my gage over the structures hitherto made and used will now be clear, and that its operation will be sufficiently understood by those skilled in the art from the foregoing description, without further detail.

ICO

While I have shown one form of scales and recording mechanism, it is to be understood that by this I do not intend to limit myself to such structures, as it is obvious that other forms of these devices may be used without departing from my invention; and of course the materials used in construction, the proportions of the various parts when stated, are given for illustration from a working device, and are not to be considered as limiting the invention, for these are matters of calculation dependent upon the surrounding circumstances and the judgment of those familiar with the art.

I claim as my invention- 1. In a self recording rain gage, the combination with the top having atube extending therefrom to the jar suspended from the arm of a pair of scales, a pen attached directly to said arm, a chronographic cylinder with which said pen contacts, a gear connected to the shaft of said drum, and meshing with a a 1 1201 31 0 .1 shaft o a o k, su s tially as described.

2. In a self recording rain gage, the combination with the chronographic drum, of the pivoted scale arm having the graduated jar suspended from one end thereof, and provided with a counterpoise for said jar upon the opposite side of the pivot, a pen carried by said arm in contact with the drum, with a bell crank lever pivotally attached to a rigid support, having its short arm connected by a link to the scale arm and an adjustable weight upon its long arm, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

ALVA J. GROVER.

Witnesses:

ANDREW ROSEWATER, J OHN MCLARIE. 

